The present invention is an improvement over conventional musical wind instrument pads that have a tendency to warp and lose their seal. Conventional pads have a thin skin that is not durable and often wears through because of repeated contact with the tonehole rim, thus ruining the seal. Conventional pads are usually made of materials which change dimension due to absorption of water and/or subsequent drying out. Because of this they are not stable and lose their seal against a tonehole rim as their dimensions change. Because of these problems it is often necessary to replace conventional pads.
The circumferential edges of the toneholes of musical wind instruments are not always flat or in plane, so shims or partial shims (which do not complete a circle) are necessary to adjust the surface plane of the pad so that it matches the plane or variations in plane of the circumferential edge of the tonehole. In this way a good pad seal can be accomplished without having to use excessive finger pressure to close the pad. This is one important factor that makes a difference between a musical instrument that plays well and one that plays poorly. Conventional wind instruments such as flutes usually employ shims between the pad and the cup. The common method of shimming conventional pads requires the removal of the cup/key from the instrument body, removal of the pad retaining screw and washer, removal of the pad from the cup, and finally installing shims. The conventional pad and key must then be reassembled and refitted to the instrument. The labor involved is tedious and expensive. The present invention offers a way to reduce this cost and labor.
Some wind instruments (especially saxophones) use glue such as shellac to adhere the pad to the cup. The glue is heated to soften it while the pad is adjusted/tilted in the cup to achieve a better seal or match between the pad and the circumferential edge of the tonehole. This may be a good method for approximating the fit between the sealing surface and the tonehole rim, but it is hard to determine exactly how much to relocate the pad while the glue is still soft. The process can be erratic and the pad can be moved too much, not enough, or in the wrong direction. Shimming is a more accurate process because a shim of a measured thickness can be placed exactly where it will be most effective. Then, if you decide that the seal was better without the shim, the shim can be removed and the pad will be exactly as it was before the shim was added.
The ability to easily shim a pad is very important. The present invention addresses this issue and provides an improvement by making it possible to shim the pad without having to remove the cup/key from the instrument body. The advantages due to reduced labor help to make this new invention attractive to the musical instrument industry and to its customers.
Most pads used in wind instruments consist of a soft cushion that is covered with a skin where the pad surface meets the tonehole rim. The soft, compliant nature of the cushion reduces excessive impact noise when the pad is closed against the tone hole and also allows the pad to conform to the circumferential rim of the tonehole, thus creating a seal. Unfortunately, this softness has the detrimental effect of absorbing and deadening the tone of the wind instrument. Stretching the skin over the soft cushion has a further detrimental effect because there are tiny spaces between the skin and the cushion created by elevations and recesses of the underlying cushion due to the surface texture of cushion materials such as felt or ULTRASUEDE. Because the skin spans across these tiny recesses and is unsupported, the skin is allowed to flex in sympathy with the sound producing vibrations and pulsations of the air moving within the musical instrument while it is being played. This flexing of the pad skin is undesirable because it dampens and weakens the intensity of the sound vibrations and pulsations previously mentioned.
Conventional pads commonly have a surface skin that is wrapped around the cushion and glued to its back side. Stretching and wrapping the skin around the cushion distorts the pad because of varying/uneven levels of stress and tension being applied to the outside diameter of the cushion. This distortion warps the exposed surface of the pad, bringing it out of plane. An out of plane pad surface creates unwanted air leaks between the sealing surface and the tone hole rim. Extra labor and expense must then be invested to eliminate these unwanted air leaks. Another problem with conventional pads is that the skin usually ends up being folded or bunched up in places where it is glued to the back side of the pad. This creates an uneven layer of glued skin and causes the back surface of the pad to be uneven and out of plane. Since the backside of the pad is pressed against the inside of the cup when assembled, any unevenness distorts the entire pad to some degree and causes problems in obtaining a seal between the pad surface and the tonehole rim.
The invention described herein incorporates several materials which combine to make a pad which is long lasting, dimensionally stable in respect to water absorption or content, and easy to adjust by shimming in order to maintain a good sealing/mating surface with the tonehole rim.
The pad is comprised of a compliant cushion that has a smooth and flexible surface. A recess is formed in the rigid holder of the cushion for the purpose of containing the compliant cushion. In order to retain the cushion within the cushion holder recess, one or more lateral sides of the recess may be angular and/or lipped so that the portion of the cushion material nearer to the tonehole sealing surface is constricted and held more tightly than the portion of the cushion material embedded within the area of the recess that is farther away from the tonehole sealing surface.
A notch is provided in the outer collar of the cushion holder to enable a wire, pick or similar tool to be inserted between the cushion and the cushion holder for the purpose of prying the cushion out of the recess. In this way the pad can be easily lifted so that a shim may be inserted between the cushion and the cushion holder to close leaks and provide a more precise seal with the tonehole rim. With this new pad design it is possible to perform the shimming operation without having to remove the cup/key from the instrument body, thus saving time and expense when setting up a pad-to-tonehole seal.
An improved way of shimming pads is by providing a pad-fastening device that does not require removal of the pad closing mechanism from the instrument body. This is achieved by replacing the usual pad retaining screw with a magnet that can easily be removed and replaced with a tweezers.
The tone or acoustical properties of various pad materials and their manner of construction is of considerable importance. Reducing the detrimental sound absorbing qualities of pads by adhering a slick sealing surface directly to the underlying cushion further enhances the tone qualities of wind instruments. The thin sealing surface can be made of a variety of materials such as films with polymeric structures, gut skin, leather or other. Polymerically structured films are impervious to air, provide an airtight seal and are unaffected by moisture. Adhering the sealing surface or film to the pad cushion offers an advantage in that the sealing surface does not have to wrap, stretch and distort around the cushion to be glued to the backside of the pad. Adhering the sealing surface directly to the underlying cushion helps to create a pad that has a flat surface free of distortion. For a better understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings and is described as follows: